(FreedomBeacon.com)- A former NYPD officer was sentenced by a Federal judge to ten years in prison last week for his involvement in the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
In May, Thomas Webster, 56, was found guilty on six charges, including assaulting DC Metro Police officer Noah Rathbun with a flag pole outside of the Capitol on January 6. Rathbun testified against Webster during the trial.
The judge’s 10-year sentence is the longest prison term given to any January 6 defendant so far, but it is less than the 17-and-a-half years prosecutors had requested.
Body cam footage from the riot showed Webster, wearing a bulletproof vest and waving a Marine Corps flag, pushing toward the front of the crowd and confronting Officer Rathbun. In the footage, Webster is seen swinging the metal flagpole and breaking apart bike racks acting as the perimeter.
As Rathbun backed away, Webster tackled him and attempted to pull off Rathbun’s gas mask. Rathbun then struck Webster’s face while attempting to push him away.
In the trial, Webster claimed self-defense, saying Rathbun provoked the altercation.
In May, the jury convicted Webster of assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining on restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence on restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Webster to ten years and gave him 3 additional years of supervised probation. Webster will also have to pay $2,060 in restitution. Mehta applied a 4-level enhancement which added thirty months to his sentence since Webster was wearing body armor at the time.
After his sentencing, Webster told the court that he had been overwhelmed by his emotions and political rhetoric, adding that he should have known not to engage in violence but he lacked the courage to stop himself. He also apologized to Officer Rathbun.
Webster served in the US Marine Corps from 1985 until 1989. He was a serving NYPD officer from 1991 to 2011.
